Acceptance and Hope
by HardyGal
Summary: Sunstreaker and Sideswipe have been shunned among the Autobots due to their Decepticon-esq gladiatorial past, and this doesn't help their already thin tempers. But after a talk from Lieutenant Jazz, the two gladiators see that they are still wanted. And that's hope enough for them.


**A/N HardyGal: So, my dad tells me to write a short story about hope, and says I could even use Transformers if I wanted to. So I use Transformers because I'm in no mood to make new characters with all my large stories going on already. There might be OOCness, but just bear with me. I worked über hard on this, and I had a five page limit (which is why this story seems to finish so abruptly). Hope you enjoy.**

There were two bots among the Autobot army who just couldn't catch a break. It didn't help that they came from relatively the same origin as Megatron, the Decepticon leader, or that their attitude practically stamped 'Wannabe-Decepticon' on their helms. And honestly, if this mutual distrust between new recruits and the Autobots kept up, then wannabe was likely to turn into gonna-be. Especially for the yellow one.

Sunstreaker. A yellow mech with a few sociopathic tendencies. The entirety of the Autobots sometimes went out of their way to avoid him, which wasn't easy, as he spent most of his time in the rec. room bar, which is where everyone usually wanted to be. It didn't help that a drunk Sunstreaker was a lot more dangerous than a sober one.

His twin brother Sideswipe, an almost identical red mech, wasn't quite as temperamental as him, but just as iffy and dangerous, and hardly ever seen apart from Sunstreaker. So that was two of probably the least popular Autobots on Cybertron, hanging out in the one place where everybot wanted to be.

The two young gladiators hadn't been among the Autobots for long, and already they had a bad rep. No one wanted them. It was a wonder Optimus Prime wanted to keep them around.

Third-In-Command Autobot Jazz was considering stepping into the recreation room to tune down for awhile. His mind was made up for him when he heard the shouting going on in there. Jazz quickly ran into the room, where there was a ruckus going on around the bar.

Sunstreaker was rolling on the floor with Ironhide, shouting furiously. Ironhide was yelling every swear word he knew as he wrestled with the smaller mech, but Suntreaker seemed to be full on feral, punching, clawing, pounding, and all the time shouting. Even Ironhide, being the big, fighting mech he was, seemed to have his work cut out for him.

"Ya better yield ya little slagger before I use my guns on ya!" Ironhide shouted.

Sideswipe was being held back by a couple bots, shouting at Ironhide through grit denta. "Let him go, you glitchhead! Get off me! Get offa me!" He fought furiously against his restrainers.

Sunstreaker practically screamed as Hound and Brawl jumped on him, pulling him off Ironhide. "Let go, ya fragging-! Get off!" With a crazed shout, Sunstreaker threw Brawl off him, directly into the bots holding Sideswipe, who instantly jumped into the fight.

"Hey! Hey!" Jazz, silently cursing his height, fought his way through the slightly panicked bots. "Break it up, break it up!"

"Enough!" Jazz turned in surprise to see a rather fragged off looking Prowl, the Second-In-Command. The logical, rule abiding tactician wasn't prone to showing his emotions, but he didn't look happy.

Slowly, the fight died down, leaving Suntreaker and Sideswipe restrained in the arms of several glowering bots.

"We ain't gonna keep putting up with this scrap!" Ironhide shouted at Jazz and Prowl, wiping energon off his faceplates, and pointing furiously at Sunstreaker. The surrounding Autobots spoke up in agreement.

"Well, we _ain't_ either!" Sideswipe sneered.

Sunstreaker struggled furiously, still screaming. He turned mad blue optics on Ironhide. "He attacked me, and messed up my paint-job! I swear I'll kill him!"

"You're one to talk!" Ironhide retorted. "You're the one who attacked Skyler! I was only trying to stop ya!"

"You punched me in the faceplates!" Suntreaker retorted, his words slurring a little. He then turned furiously on a smaller bot, who was glaring at Suntreaker right back, rubbing the dents all over his chassis. "And that glitch was begging for it! He called me a slagging murderer!"

"You two freaks killed my brother!" Skyler snapped, pointing an accusing digit at Sunstreaker. "You murdered him, all for the sake of a sick game!"

"Maybe I'll let you two reunite!"

Skyler probably would've attacked the bright yellow mech if he too hadn't been held back. "Sky's got a point!" another bot, Vee, agreed, stepping forward. "These two were in the same game as Megatron, killing for sport! They're ticking time bombs, hardly worth our time!"

"How 'bout we blow up and _make_ it worth your time!" said Sideswipe.

Ironhide pushed Vee aside, glaring back at Jazz and Prowl. "Tell Optimus we don't want these two around! They should've been left to the 'Cons when we stormed the Gladiatorial Pits!"

"At least they might've been more charitable than you!" Sideswipe screamed.

Ironhide seemed ready to attack the young red mech, but Jazz leapt forward, coming between the two. "Cool your circuits, botha ya!" he said angrily. "The 'Cons would be laughin' to see us like this!"

Sunstreaker suddenly laughed hysterically. "Yeah, yes, the 'Cons! We came from Megatron's playhouse, so we must be 'Cons!" He sounded brutally sarcastic, and his voice then became a lot more aggressive.

"Growing up in Megatron's playhouse, we learned to kill, and be future 'Cons! I bet that woulda never happened to any of you! Hah!" The rec. room was silent as Sunstreaker groaned painfully, regret now mixing in his vocals. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! We never asked for any of this to happen! Just so much hate… Hate for Megatron, hate for the Pits, hate for this slagging war! Hate for what I've done! And so much hate for us, and I can't fix it! I can't fix it! You don't want us, no one wants us, and I can't fix it!"

He fell limp in the arms of the restraining Autobots, bitterness, regret, anger and hopelessness being all that was written on his faceplates. Jazz stood there in a stunned silence.

"You're slagging right you can't fix it," Skyler muttered.

"Shut up!" Sideswipe screamed suddenly. "Just shut up!"

Havoc and shouting was beginning again, but Prowl again stepped in. "Quiet!" he shouted. The room fell silent again. "Bring the twins to the brig. I will consult with Optimus Prime on this manner."

As the two former gladiators were escorted from the rec. room, swearing and shouting, Prowl continued addressing those left in the room. "Within the orn, this room will be repaired." He put no emphasis on his words, but he was dead serious.

Jazz chased after Prowl as the SIC left the rec. room, leaving behind several grumbling bots. "I don't think that was wise," Jazz said simply.

"Leaving a decimated room the way it is would be against protocol," Prowl replied.

"_Your_ protocol. And no, I mean about sending the twins to the brig."

Prowl looked at Jazz stonily. "They are unruly and began violent dissension among the ranks. Sending them to the brig is standard protocol. And I am going to request that Optimus Prime remove them from the ranks so no more violence should occur from their presence.

* * *

"Autobot Sunstreaker is especially prone to berserker outbursts," Prowl stated calmly. "As this is the fourth and most violent outburst since they have joined the ranks, I must speak my processor and say that these… Terror Twins should be removed from the Autobots."

"I object, Optimus!" Jazz snapped, though glaring at Prowl instead of the Autobot leader. "These mechs have been through so much scrap through their lifespan, most of which ain't their fault!"

Optimus Prime looked between his two top lieutenants, saying nothing as Jazz continued. "They're walking a thin line between us and the 'Cons! And I don't think we're helpin' by acting as though they'll fall off that line any second! It's like we're pushing them off it, and they can't fight back!

"They are a danger to the crew," Prowl stated, not returning Jazz's look. "Regardless of what the psychology is behind their behavior, they have broken one too many protocols and must be removed."

"I think they need help!" Jazz retorted.

"Optimus Prime," Prowl said cooly, addressing the leader.

Optimus vented looking at Prowl's carefully written report in his servos. "It is regrettable, but Prowl is right."

"What?" Jazz said incredulously.

"I do not suggest that we offer them the choice to join the Decepticons," said Optimus. "Simply that we offer them a choice, leave the Autobots, or remain, as long as they stem their violent behavior."

"That ain't gonna happen, Optimus," Jazz said with a shake of his helm. "Ya know that they'll simply take that as the last push and leave. And they can't stay under those conditions, not with everybot whisperin' all that scrap about them. They'll snap again, and we don't know if we'll react too late next time."

"They have earned their second chances more than a second time," said Prowl. "This will be their last one."

"But they have never actually gotten those second chances!" Jazz retorted. "A second chance isn't where we constantly remind them of what they've done! That's just one punishment among everything else!"

The TIC finally turned on Optimus, speaking sincerely. "Joinin' the Autobots was supposed to be their second chance. But we haven't exactly made them feel welcome. They need some serious help, Prime. And we need to let them have it."

Optimus stared at Jazz contemplatively, before putting down Prowl's reports, lowering his helm. "I believe… you are right Jazz. Every being is allowed the chance of change, sometimes only if they are actually given it. And it shames me to realize that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker have not been given the chance. Thus, I appoint you, Jazz, to keep an optic on them. And… help them."

Prowl didn't make any movement, but simply said, "Yes, Prime."

Jazz, on the other hand, broke into a grin. "Excellent, Optimus! I'll get right to it!"

* * *

"You who what in the where now?"

Jazz smirked a little. "I said that you two are gonna be under my special command for the time being."

Sideswipe scoffed, and Sunstreaker stood up, approaching the energy barrier slowly. Jazz stood there calmly as the glowering yellow warrior looked down on him.

"And what did you do, that now has the crazed murderers under your optic?" His faceplates were cold, but his vocals were just dull.

Jazz looked up at him, arms crossed, expression solemn. "I asked for it. Literally." Sunstreaker shuttered his optics, and glanced at his twin, who was equally surprised. "I am not denyin' that ya killed a lotta mechs while you were in the Pits. But I ain't sayin' it was all your fault. The Pits was a brutal place, and I doubt you two weren't forced to do what ya did."

Sunstreaker turned away, tapping his pede in a hesitant manner. Sideswipe was staring at Jazz appraisingly, as if trying to tell if he was genuine or not. "I know it ain't easy to leave behind," said Jazz. "But this is a chance for both of ya to start a new life, as Autobots. I see a lot of potential in ya. Not just gladiators. Two real mechs who _wanted_ to be with the Autobots, who didn't want them. And I want you both on my team."

Jazz stepped away, and walked out of the brig. "You're in here for a couple orn for roughhousin'," he told the twins, who were exchanging looks. "In the meantime, think about it."

* * *

"I want those two out of the army!" Ironhide was shouting at no one in particular. He stomped into the rec. room, and moved to the bar, getting himself a cube of high-grade energon.

Jazz almost laughed into his own high-grade cube after he cast a glance at the large weapons expert. Pink paint messily covered his helm, shoulders, chestplates and back. Ironhide turned to the nearest mech, which happened to be Jazz, and continued shouting, pointing an angry digit.

"I swear that one day I will catch them, and they will regret everything they've ever done!"

"That so?" Jazz said idly.

"They are unruly and undisciplined!" Ironhide swigged his high-grade cube, and got himself another. He had a very high resistance to the stuff, no one had won a drinking game with him yet, not even Sideswipe. "They are the worst influence possible on Bumblebee!"

"Ok." Jazz had been listening to Ironhide's rants with absent amusement, but nearly fell backwards as Ironhide was suddenly shouting into his faceplates.

"Don't think I don't know you have something to do with it!" Ironhide bellowed. "All you… calm, smart-aft punks have some play in any pranks there are on this slagging ship! And don't think I've forgotten the time you let Bumblebee watch that horror vid!"

Jazz winced a little, preferring not to remember that. Ironhide, for being such a trigger happy lug, was a very protective guardian. In his defense, though, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Skyler and Firefight were equally responsible for that incident.

Ironhide finished his second cube, and then stomped toward the exit. "I will find them!" And he was gone.

Jazz stared at the exit. "Okay…" Well, he had spilled his cube when Ironhide had screamed at him, so that was nice.

Then, two helms peeked over the bar counter. "He's gone?" said Sideswipe, and the two of them stood up, laughing, and sharing a high five.

"You two owe me a cube of high-grade," Jazz said with mock annoyance.

"Way ahead of you." Sideswipe lifted a small, yellow frame, and set it on the table. Bumblebee was laughing so hard he couldn't even be heard as he handed Jazz a cube.

" 'Hide n-needed to bright-brighten up!" the young bot laughed.

"Bucket over the door," Sideswipe told Jazz simply. "This little bot is a classic prank genius."

"I learned from the best," Bumblebee said cheekily, hanging his legs off the side of the counter.

Skyler walked over to the bar, collecting a cube. "Hey, I saw 'Hide walk in with a new paint-job," he said, addressing the twins. "Who's fault is that?"

Bumblebee and Sideswipe pointed at Sunstreaker, who whacked Sideswipe upside the helm, smirking. Skyler grinned, giving a thumbs up.

"Aw, he'll get over it," Sideswipe said carelessly. "He doesn't always need to act as though we've offended his great ancestors or something."

Jazz smirked, taking a gulp from his new high-grade cube. Then, he tilted his helm as he received a comm. ::Lieutenants,:: said Optimus Prime. ::Gather in the meeting room.:: The comm. ended.

"Whelp, we have a meeting to go to." Jazz downed the last of his cube. "Let's go."

"Alrighty." Sideswipe pushed Bumblebee off the counter playfully, and the younger bot fell to the ground, landing nimbly. "Stay with Skyler, 'Bee," said Sideswipe. "We have some important Autobot stuff to do."

"Fine." Bumblebee rolled his optics, but ran over to Skyler eagerly, asking if he could use his holo projector again.

"I'll beat ya'll there, suckers!" Sideswipe launched himself over the counter, and ran out of the rec. room.

Sunstreaker walked around the counter calmly. "He'll bump into Ironhide first."

"Yep." Jazz started walking towards the exit, when a servo on his shoulder stopped him. The saboteur turned on Sunstreaker, mildly surprised. Sunstreaker seemed to be hesitating as he stayed silent, idly brushing away a few specks of dust from his paint-job.

"Thanks." That was sudden, and Jazz's surprise grew.

"What?"

Sunstreaker's helm lifted enough to look at Jazz straight in the visor. "I said thanks. I should've said that a long time ago. After you offered us a place on your team, and actually wanted us when none of the other guys did. That… changed something. So, thanks, Jazz." Jazz stared at him, and Sunstreaker crossed his arms, looking more like his brooding self. "I'm not kissing you or anything. My speech was touchy-feely as it was, and my rep as brooding prankster is not allowed to change."

Jazz slowly smirked, and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You're welcome." Then, he lowered his vocals dramatically, spreading his arm towards the exit. "Now come, Lieutenant Sunny. Important Autobot stuff awaits!"


End file.
